"You could see in the seventh and eighth grade if they continued to develop they had a chance to do some good things when they were seniors."

The Mustangs led District 19-5A in offense last year and return quarterback Tyler Ferre, running back Adrian Thomas, receiver Aaron Thomas and multi-purpose playmaker Damarren Mitchell.

Bell also expects to be much-improved on defense after scheme and mentality adjustments.

"We're a lot more attack-oriented," he said. "We're not playing so much gap-control, man-on-man defense.

"We're going to fly around and disrupt, and allow our kids to do what they can do."

To achieve the desired effect, the Mustangs' coaches also spent the offseason repositioning their personnel.

Dustin Parmely, who started on the defensive line last year, moved to linebacker, Jay Terrell went from part-time outside linebacker to full-time outside backer, defensive back/wide receiver Charles Rowell moved to outside backer, and Luke Kretschmer went from defensive end to linebacker.

"It's wholesale change – a philosophy change, a scheme change and then some personnel changes to get our best 11 guys on the field," Bell said.

Bell also raved about Mason Storrs' return. Storrs played on the defensive line as a sophomore, moved to center out of necessity last season, then suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 3. Now he's fully healed and back on the D-line.

"This will be the biggest and best offensive line we've had here at Magnolia West," Bell said. "We've got 10 to 12 guys who could step on the field and I'd have no problem with them starting for us on Friday night."

Magnolia West scrimmages Kingwood Park on Aug. 21 and opens the season Aug. 28 vs. Livingston.